Review by Julia Chamberlain

This is what Fringe shows are for. Joe Hart is still pretty new – a placed finalist in last year’s So You Think You’re Funny? – and this is his solo debut. It is crammed with content, history, literature, maths, science, social observation....  In the future he could be picking up the mantle of Robin Ince for intellectual bravura and his delivery channels Eddie Izzard’s delicate hesitations and affectations to an astounding degree, I’m sure all quite unconsciously.

He’s got wit to spare and radiates a confident likeability, but truth be told he’s in sore need of a director and a someone to help him lick this into shape. 

This is a good calling card of a show – he’s a new act, he needs management, he’s showing what he can do now and all the indications are that he’s got a bucketload of potential in writing and performing – but he’s not there yet.  It doesn’t matter. 

He describes himself as a gay nerd, but there’s more to him than that; but he literally needs to find his own voice, because the Izzardry is obscuring the real Joe Hart. He delivers at breakneck speed and his range of reference is impressive, but apart from his involuntary celibacy, we don’t find out enough about him.

I salute his ambition for getting a solo show off the ground this early in his career, but there’s too many facts and not enough human interest. The humour comes alive when he talks about fighting with his sister or coming out to his mum. The audience certainly enjoyed his gallop through history, maths and fruit-based jokes, it was headspinning stuff and the style and intensity of delivery was what makes this a something of a show, but it needed more discipline  and some ruthless editing.  More Hart and less head perhaps...

Review date: 12 Aug 2015
Reviewed by: Julia Chamberlain
Reviewed at: Gilded Balloon Teviot